Boise commuters can expect traffic delays around St. Luke’s hospital in downtown beginning Sunday night. The delays are caused in part by the new expansion of St. Luke’s campus and a new traffic plan to help ease road congestion in that area.
As a part of the new expansion project for St. Luke’s, the City of Boise and the Ada County Highway District have partnered to create a much needed road update. Among the improvements is a two lane roundabout at the intersection of East Fort and Reserve Street.
“We will be closing the east and north sides of Avenue B and Fort streets and moving traffic onto the south and west sides into two lanes throughout that area,” says Jeff Hannes, Project Manager for Central Paving.
Along with the roundabout, there will be changes to the intersection of First. Fort and State Streets, as well as a dedicated bike path around the hospital’s perimeter. Dave McFadyen, Boise Hospital Administrator at St. Luke’s says that the trees that have been cut down for the expansion of the walking and bike path will be replaced.
“We’ll have a walking path, we’ll have a dedicated bike path for both directions,” says McFadyen, “and a planter strip separating that from the street, and the bike lane from the street, all around the entire campus.”
There will be detours planned to help accommodate commuters around the construction. Hannes says the detour route for Reserve Street will be along Avenue H, taking people down to Warm Springs.
The first part of the road construction is expected to last through October, with other minor road work over the next few years as the St. Luke’s expansion progresses. Monthly meetings with St. Luke’s, the City, and ACHD will be held on the second Wednesday of every month starting July 12 at the Fort Boise Senior Center.
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